Taxi drivers fined for using GPS Jammers

To track modern taxis by finding the closest one vacant to a job and for security reasons, cabs are fitted with satellite-based Global Positioning System (GPS) technology.

The supply and use of a GPS jamming device has been outlawed in Australia since 2004.

However intelligence indicates the devices may be used by some cab drivers to block signals.

In a joint initiative called Operation Signal, the ACMA joined with the Victorian Taxi Directorate at the Melbourne Airport taxi holding yard to re-educate drivers.

Armed with fact sheets and a spectrum analyser, the ACMA spoke to hundreds of them who should now know that GPS jammers are prohibited.

GPS jammers create a bubble of interference or blocking around a taxi.

A few operators have used a GPS jammer to override taxi meters and trick the cab companies into giving them work when they’re not in the immediate area or are vacant.

At the expense of their colleagues, those using a jammer could make up to $200 extra a week.